


The Butterfly Effect

by A_dude_who_writes_stuff



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: AU, Azula (Avatar) Needs a Hug, Azula (Avatar)-centric, Gen, I have no idea how to use tags plz help, Iroh wins the siege of Ba Sing Se, Lu Ten (Avatar) Lives, More like a "co-prosperity" sphere, Ozai (Avatar) is an Asshole, The Fire Nation isn't an empire
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-27
Updated: 2020-10-02
Packaged: 2021-03-03 18:36:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 21,157
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24940129
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/A_dude_who_writes_stuff/pseuds/A_dude_who_writes_stuff
Summary: A Butterfly takes flight when it shouldn't have. The cascading changes result in Ba Sing Se falling to the Dragon of the West, who returns home, his son alive.Needless to say, 4 years later things are a bit different. A disgraced princess hunts the Avatar, the Mad King of Omashu and his allies in the Northern Water Tribe hold their ground as best they can.In other words, my take on the ol' Lu Ten doesn't die AU
Comments: 39
Kudos: 50





	1. Stage Dressings

Somewhere in the southwestern segment of the Earth King’s gardens, a butterfly took flight. This in of itself isn’t worth much attention. As far as the butterfly was concerned, it lifted off and fluttered about for a couple of minutes and landed again. That’s the end of the story, if you care about the butterfly.

  
But everything affects everything else and even something as small as the wingbeats of a butterfly has its impact. Each little flutter created a little ripple in the air. Individually they were so weak that even the wisest of the late airbenders couldn’t have detected it. Nonetheless the ripples fed into a westerly breeze, strengthening it by the slightest bit imaginable.

  
In a total affront to destiny, this breeze had the misfortune of running through a battleground. None other than the legendary conflict for Ba Sing Se’s outer wall. The historic conclusion of the six hundred day siege of the city.

  
The official account of what followed describes an illustrious advance led by Crown Prince Lu Ten, carrying out the final step of his father’s brilliant plan. A generation of students would be familiar with his charge that shattered the inferior Earthbending defenders, who were simply unable to stand in the face of a disciplined fighting force. Reality wasn’t so clean cut.

  
While the Earth Kingdom may have had a massive breach in their outer wall, they were far from defenseless. They had the middle ring of Ba Sing Se afterall. While traditionally seen as a liability, the hundreds of thousands of peasants and commoners were not placed between the palace and the outside by accident. As such, the policy of no war entering Ba Sing Se ended and the human resources of the city began to be harvested.

  
Due to their deep pool of manpower the Earth Kingdom was able to funnel a constant stream of men into the breach. Hours of savage hand to hand combat had taken, lost, and retaken the same line of barricades a dozen times. Firebenders and Earthbenders alike tore into densely packed blocks of soldiers, all notion of cohesion and order disappeared under thick clouds of smoke and dust.

  
Needless to say this was not the war of maneuver and wits the Dragon of the West had so far encountered. Now he found himself commanding a battle of attrition with no end in sight. He was well aware that chances were that he’d lose. The Earth Kingdom had many times more men, fighting for their homes, even if recently conscripted. This was a war on his enemy’s terms, something no general should allow themselves to do. But he wasn’t ready to surrender, not when the city was within reach. So with one final brush stroke, he passed on an order to a messenger.

  
Shortly afterwards, Lu Ten, acting under direct orders of his father, took personal command of all remaining reserve battalions. This should have put an end to the six hundred day siege. Lu Ten along with most of his men would be buried under a hail of rubble. A broken General Iroh would return home having failed his gambit. And Ba Sing Se would live up to its name once again and would survive another invasion.

  
But because that butterfly took flight, this did not happen. The slightest change of the breeze that ran through the breach had shifted the clouds of dust and smoke just enough to obscure the line of sight of a single earth bender, Pujie.

  
He was a signal bender, who lifted painted rocks to transfer information to and from the frontline. But because of the slightest difference he was unable to receive a rather important message. Therefore the location of the Prince was not known, and a hail of boulders were launched from further back. This saved Lu Ten’s life, as he would have been targeted with extreme prejudice. However the breeze did not protect Pujie, who became the victim of a Yuyan archer.

  
The missed message allowed Lu Ten’s to make it to the front lines, where he was to lead a charge to retake the worn line of barricades. The already exhausted and inexperienced defenders suddenly found themselves facing a wave of fresh veteran forces. Within minutes the barricades were again in Fire Nation hands.

  
But unlike the previous assaults the Fire Nation did not stop advancing. They were under the royal banner, led by their cherished general’s son. Slogans drilled into the invading troops since their first day of school were chanted, and further assaults were issued from zealous officers. The scattered defenders were unable to mount an organized defense under an assault they did not see coming, and were forced to retreat from their secondary line of defenses.

  
As often happens when armies start running, panic sets in. Not unlike wildfire panic spreads, even to the unbloodied. Even the braves begin to flee, their own positions seemingly untenable. Soon as the breach fell, all of the Earth’s King’s forces were in a full scale rout. Waves of fleeing troops crashed into their own lines, pushing apart and shattering them apart in panic. Despite some pockets of heroic resistance, the situation quickly devolved into a full scale slaughter. A wall being between the conscript armies and safety.

  
Within an hour the entire city was in the grips of chaos, attributed to the sun being blotted out by thick pillars of smoke. Upon learning that the most secure city in the world had no more crops, citizens attempted to flee into the inner wall to find shelter from a fire nation massacre. In their first combat in decades, the palace guard found themselves fighting their own countrymen to keep hold of their last redoubts.

  
Long Feng, the leader of the Dai Li, was not a man to pass up such an opportunity. He knew he was on the losing side of the fight, and that the Earth King was going to lose his throne no matter what. While bad to almost all of his associates, it was a windfall for his organization.

  
The final ring still held, and vast portions of the middle ring still resisted. It was likely that the Fire Nation would be unable to seize the city and was inclined to burn it instead. In delivering the prize intact to the Dragon of the West he would undoubtedly secure a comfortable future for himself and his organization. So he defected, unfurling the fire nation banners he had stored for such an occasion.

  
The palace fell within an hour as every strongpoint was systematically disassembled from behind. An ever gracious host, Iroh welcomed the betrayal with open arms. With the efficiency the dread general was known for, he assimilated the “unexpected reinforcements” and crushed all resistance before nightfall.  
Meanwhile in the spirit world the butterfly spirit found itself the victim of a sudden and all encompassing silent treatment, owing to the single butterfly that had just ruined everything.

***

Four years later, a lone Sozin class battleship steered a course due south. This was out of the ordinary. Any sailor with a grain of common sense would tell you that there was no good reason to go this far south. Weren’t any waterbenders to exchange for a bounty, only the odd fur and some fish. Even the southern raiders had given up on this forsaken hellhole, claiming it wasn’t worth the cost of coal to go there.

  
But for the commander of the battleship, the fact that nobody ever went there was the exact reason she was going there. After all, the Avatar, obvious master of stealth, was clearly not somewhere people went often.

  
If he were in the Northern Water Tribe or the Omashu holdouts, the world would know. If he were in the Fire Nation or the colonies, he’d already be in a cell. And Princess Azula had already searched the air temples extensively. So that left one possibility, the southern tribe.

  
To be entirely honest, it struck her as odd that nobody else had tried looking for him at the south pole. But then again, it had been decades since anybody really cared about the Avatar. It was one hundred year old news that the Avatar was a coward. He was a non-factor, not considered worth the effort required to capture. In that way, Azula supposed he fit in with everything else this far south.

  
But this was no time for supposing, Princess Azula had left her well heated quarters for a reason. A recent turn of events had made it clear that her orders carried little weight. And like any good leader, she would make swift moves rectify the situation.

  
“Captain, why have we slowed down?”

  
The greying officer turned to face Azula with a start, obviously distracted by whatever job he was doing on the deck. The crewmen around him now seemed very interested in whatever menial work they were doing.

  
“The ice your majesty.” He bowed low and stiffly, “Navigating this far south has become a hazard, and we are responding accordingly.”

  
Despite being the one to approach him, Azula turned away from the captain. She walked out to the railing and feigned interest in the bland scenery of ice floes and empty ocean. Despite the outward display of casual arrogance, this was a practiced move. She had angled herself in a way that the captain could not politely move to address her face to face. As father had always said, disregard was worth a thousand words of displeasure.

  
“I see. Now tell me, what are we doing?” Azula asked her nails. “I seem to have forgotten.” Azula asked.

  
Captain Chaisai, had no real answer. The Princess’s feigned ignorance was obviously some sort of trap, it seemed everything was with her. In all likelihood it would be best for him to answer plainly. The sooner this was done with, the sooner he could get back to getting his crew through this.

  
“We are headed due south to find and capture the Avatar, your majesty.”

  
To Azula this wasn’t the worst answer, at least he had some sense of purpose, even if he lacked conviction to overcome something as trifling as ice.

  
“Correct.” Azula said, turning to meet the captain’s gaze directly, as her tone sharpened. “I suppose you can also tell me who this avatar is.”

  
Right as Captain Chaisai began to open his mouth she continued. “Oh yes, I remember now. He’s the only person who can bend all four elements, which he has been practicing for over one hundred years at this point. Do you think we should be careful?”

  
The captain bowed again, before a reflexive response of, “Of course your majesty.”

  
Azula raised an eyebrow and remained silent. Captain Chaisai would have to measure his next words very carefully. He was effectively gambling the retirement that he had spent 20 years building, by dealing with a child who acted like the personal firelord of his vessel. All for trying to keep his ship above water.

  
“If I may ask, what does this have to do with the Avatar? Is it not the better option to approach these dangerous waters with the proper caution?”

  
Azula was already tired of his dull questions.

  
“The ship we stand on is coal powered, and coal burns into ash, captain. The ash then will alert everyone, including the avatar of our presence long before we arrive. Unless you’re attempting to give the Avatar a head start, we need to be as fast as possible.”

  
Chaisai, weighed his options. He could either contradict a royal, the late Ozai’s daughter no less, and most likely spend the next couple months in the brig waiting to drown. Or he could risk drowning from the comfort of the captain’s quarters, with an intact pension if he didn’t.

  
“As you instruct, your majesty.” Captain Chaisai bowed.

  
Azula nodded slightly and made her way back to her quarters. She was content in knowing that a lack of proper zeal would not stifle her coming accomplishment.

***

As dramatic as the changes to the world may have been, Not everything changed. Even as Azula lorded over her ship in search of the Avatar, a series of events were happening in the exact same way they would have without the butterfly. A pair of siblings having argued themselves into being fully stranded, found a boy in an iceberg. The sister began her attempt to free him, while the brother attempted to figure just exactly how such a spy could have frozen himself so convincingly. Neither realized yet that this was in fact the avatar.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you a ton for reading to the end, of the first chapter of my first ever fan-fiction! As that would suggest this is my first time ever writing something like this. It's been a blast to write so far, and I'll likely wait until I'm really far along to ruthlessly drop it. 
> 
> Please do leave any feedback you have for this, as it's my goal to improve my writing as much as possible. Don't worry I can take criticism if this turns out to be a flaming pile of trash.


	2. First Contact

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I burnt my cheesy scrambled eggs while writing this chapter. Ever since I have been haunted by the ghost of breakfast past, send an exorcist. Please, the screaming will not end.

It wasn’t every day that someone successfully predicted the location of the Avatar. And as a result Azula was feeling as every bit vindicated as she imagined she would be. Staring out at that inexplicable light had made her feel more alive than a lifetime’s worth of praise. However upon the subsequent reports of a flare and the spotting of a flying figure, she had managed to replace her excitement with a healthy level of focus. As Azula was well aware, unrepressed emotion leads to disappointment and failure.

The immediate benefit of locating her quarry was that it appeared her crew shared her enthusiasm. This was not an opportunity Azula would waste. Naturally this would entail her addressing the crew before they made a landing, which was fast approaching.

As her status demanded, she was on the command tower’s open air platform, while the crew below was arrayed in formation. Azula didn’t much like the idea of stumbling over her words, so she had mentally rehearsed her speech without as much as mumbling a word aloud. To appear spontaneously dignified, was to be royal, afterall. 

“Today history will be made.” she began speaking slowly and clearly, “Today the Avatar will be ours.”

“I do not want to see a single twitch out of line, even a moment of hesitation. Make no mistake, I will not hesitate to personally punish anything but the utmost obedience.”

For a moment, Azula felt like the world was right again and that everything was under control. It was uncommon for her to feel this way since her father had died some years ago. She didn’t have to prove anything to anyone back then, she was a prodigy, a little Firelord in the making, not some cadet branch princess. With the Avatar however, that possibility returned. 

“Remember, that while we are dealing with the most powerful bender in existence. He is old and he is alone.” 

It did no good telling your troops they’d realistically take some losses when you didn’t have to, so she embellished. 

“The Southern Water Tribe doesn't have a single bender left, and their warriors are hundreds of miles from home. We will take decisive action, and we will take the Avatar back home in chains.”

She raised and slammed down her fist onto the railing, as the fever pitch of her speech peaked. Dramatic moves like these made peasants think you looked strong. And every little opportunity to make a display of strength was worth taking.

“Think of the honor you will bring home, the future that awaits the soldiers who bested the Avatar himself. It will be yours for the taking, all we have to do is fight one old man.”

After a round of cheers, which she stood stiffly through, Azula returned to the interior of the command tower. A little while later she took her position at the front of the prow. She intended to be among the first exiting the vessel. This was the style of leadership in vogue ever since Lu Ten’s stint at the breach, and if this was to be her Ba Sing Se, she intended to make everything of it.

***

For once Sokka wasn’t happy to be in the right, but that kid had clearly been a spy. How obvious did it have to be? Massive beacon powered by who knows what, acting all kid-ish like there wasn’t a war. Those were alarm bells that Sokka hadn’t acted on immediately, and now everything was more awful than they were yesterday.

Katara had gone from the happiest he’d seen her in years, to a depressed mess that was giving him the silent treatment. There was a Fire Nation ship closing in, judging by the little clumps of black snow. And to top it all off, the lair’s bison didn’t even fly.

Sokka had promised his father in no uncertain terms that he’d defend the tribe until the men got back. So much for that, Sokka thought. He failed a task that was obviously meant to be unfailable. They made him say that because no Fire Nation ships had come by since they took his mom. And that was years ago.

But just because he failed, didn’t mean Sokka would forsake his duty. It was better to be a partial failure than an absolute one. And that meant that the Fire Nation would have to go though through him to get to his tribe. So with his hair tied in a wolf-tail, his face painted as a warrior’s, he stood on the packed snow walls of his village.

Deep down he knew he still looked like a kid playing dress up while his father was away fighting in a real war. Thankfully none of his “warriors” had actually shown up, that would have made things even worse.

Speaking of things being worse, Sokka heard a groan from somewhere out into the fog. It wasn't something living, like that dumb buffalo from earlier. It was the inorganic sound of metal warping against the heat of its engine and cold water surrounding it. 

That meant they were close, really close. Sokka hunched, readying his spear.

He didn’t know exactly what he’d do with it, because he could see the outline of the ship through the fog, and it looked big. The silhouette got bigger and Sokka was very aware of the exact scale of what was headed towards. He froze up around the time the ice beneath him started shaking and his tower went down. 

Then the ship hit the edge of the iceberg and Sokka was thrown backwards. Sokka was lucky for two reasons. Firstly he was lucky that the ship hit the village iceberg as hard as it did. This had the effect of knocking him far enough off his embankment so he was safely deposited out of the crushing range of the ship’s assault ramp. 

Secondly he was Lucky that it was a Sozin class battleship, because a larger, more modern model, could have very well split the ice in two, swallowing Sokka, and a good portion of the village up. 

However, Sokka didn't feel lucky. His clothes were filled with snow, and he was seeing stars, not to mention the unimaginably lame looking position he landed in.

***

The ship lurched on impact, and it took everyone onboard a second to regain their footing. Unofficially, this is the reason why the ramps always came down a little while after Fire Nation ships made their landing. A stumbling blob of men didn’t quite have the same effect as skull masked Firebenders in lockstep.

So, twenty seconds later, a very threatening group of firebenders descended into the Southern Water Tribe. With no resistance, every house was stormed and searched in an orderly manner. Soldiers ran back and forth as Azula directed her troops from the central square. In no time at all, a sad huddle of old women and children clutching at their mother’s skirts had been herded out from their hiding places.

Despite herself, Azula had a hard time believing that this was the Southern Water tribe. Of course she heard a thousand times how much more advanced the Fire Nation really was, and that most people this far south lived rather nomadically. But she hadn’t expected this, there wasn’t even a real building in the entire village.

To make matters even less climatic, her crew had yet to report the presence of any air nomads, air nomad paraphilia or Avatars in general. Azula wasn’t particularly suppressed that the Avatar had fled, she wouldn’t bother fighting for a place like this, and she wasn’t a legendary coward like the Avatar was.

Unfortunately for them, the villagers were left behind to answer a very, very important question.

“Well, let's cut to the chase, shall we? Where is the Avatar?” Azula asked coldly, taking more regard towards the dilapidated snow huts than any of the villagers.

Nobody responded, so Azula yanked on the collar of an ancient looking woman. She stumbled forward onto her knees, looking up at Azula with undisguised hatred. “Should be about as old as this one. Arrow tattoos. Can bend all four elements. Anyone? Is this whole village blind, or am I being lied to?”

The old woman got up onto her shaky feet. “The Avatar has been gone for a hundred years. We’ve already had all of our waterbenders taken away, we have nothing else to give. Please leave us in peace.”

Azula considered those bold words for a people whose husbands and fathers were off pillaging in Fire Nation waters. It was becoming increasingly clear that “encouragement” would be necessary to get any answers. She wondered what she should burn first. One of their houses seemed like the best answer, even if it would just boil into mist. If that didn’t work, well, Azula could think of worse things to torch.

The entire time Azula was threatening the village into action, Sokka had been conscious. But rather than making his heroic last stand, he was gingerly rummaging in the snow around him. His weapons had been scattered after he was launched, and he still hadn’t found his spear.

He probably would have found it by now if he wasn’t moving as slowly as humanly possible. But then everyone would realize he wasn’t playing dead. And in this case Sokka much preferred pretending to the real thing.

But more than that, As his father once said, quoting his old friend who had once spoken with a merchant who had once read that the greatest warrior who ever lived had said: “all warfare is based on deception”. And as far as the fire nation was concerned he was dead, giving him a much needed edge.

All he had to do was get to who he presumed was their leader; the young firebending woman telling everyone else what to do. Nobody was really looking in his direction, and there weren’t many firebenders between him and his target. If he ran fast enough they wouldn’t see him coming. From there he just had to beat up a girl.

Considering the yelling was getting louder, and the girl had just shoved Gran-Gran, Sokka decided to act. His spear could wait until after he saved the tribe.

The two Fire Nation soldiers nearest to Sokka were facing the opposite direction, searching the Eutuk household for any overlooked signs of the Avatar. Out of the corner of his eye, the younger of the two, Akira, saw what he had thought had been a tragically young corpse spring to life. He practically had a heart attack, tangling himself in the cloth door rather than intercepting Sokka. By the time he and his partner got out, Sokka had covered half the ground he needed to get to his target.

Past those two, was the entire tribe penned in by a couple pairs of firebenders. They were slow to react and slow to turn around in their bulky armor. With their rather poor vision through their helmets, they couldn’t locate Sokka immediately. There were just too many moving shapes to account for with the all hostages. By the time they spotted Sokka he had already thrown his boomerang, which Azula dodged, and was closing the remaining distance.

The closest firebender did in fact attempt to intercept Sokka with a startled burst of fire. It was equal parts luck and surprise that he wasn’t hit. But Sokka didn’t waste a second to appreciate the close call. Instead he placed all his weight behind the swing of his club and aimed straight for Azula’s face.

Azula had been as surprised as everyone else. In fact she had hardly been able to properly orient herself before the water tribe boy attacked. Despite herself she had to admit whoever he was, he was no fool. He had understood her value and his numerical inferiority, and planned accordingly. Unfortunately for him, he fought like an untrained savage.

She was easily able to backstep out of the way of Sokka’s swing. In a maneuver she had drilled a hundred times, Azula lunged forward after Sokka’s arm swung past, grabbing and pulling his outstretched arm. The leg he had so foolishly planted all his weight on, was swept, and he tumbled in a heap for the second time that afternoon.

From there Azula would have pulled him into a rather unpleasant armlock, and dislocated his shoulder in one swift movement. But something hit the back of her head. She lurched forward, and a hand to the back of her head came back bloodied. An overwhelming throbbing grew by the second. Somehow that curved knife the boy threw had gone and struck her in the back of the head.

Suddenly Azula was acutely aware that her crew was not helping, that the entire village was actively impeding her search and despite all her preparations the Avatar wasn’t where he clearly should have been. Her inner flame flared, her vision blurred as she felt her angry grow quickly out of control. The heat quickly became intolerable and she released a portion, aiming nowhere in particular.

Her unfocused open palm strike ended up hitting one of the hovels, reducing it to steam and ash. Then Azula forced herself to breathe deeply and push the welling anger back down. A single moment’s outburst was threatening, more than that was infantile.

When her vision focused, half the crew and the entire village were all staring at her.

“Take him away.” She said looking down at the water tribe boy. He was trying to get back up so Azula kicked him in the stomach, hard. “Scour everything.”

That elicited a gasp from a couple of the villagers. Good, she thought, let them watch as she dragged off a member of their tribe. They clearly had forgotten the lesson her grandfather Azulon taught them a generation ago.

“I am going to ask again.” She kindled a flame in one hand, and then the other, letting the blue light dance across her face. “Where is the Avatar?”

***

Aang knew he could run if he really wanted to. But he was feeling all sorts of wrong about what had happened, and running away (what had felt like) yesterday hadn’t exactly worked out. So it looked like doing the right thing was the way to go, even if it would get him in serious trouble.

That meant Aang wasn’t bringing Appa with him. If the Fire Nation really was after him, he wasn’t gonna let them take Appa too. Unfortunately that forced Aang to glide back to the village. His drafty clothes did little to keep arctic air out. That, combined with feelings of guilt that no twelve year old could manage effectively, made it a very miserable return trip. At least finding his way back wasn’t hard. The fog was starting to give way, and there was a massive plume of coal smoke to guide his way.

For a short while he was able to detach himself from the cold, focusing on the simple act of bending. But as he got closer to the village he saw how bad things really were, and any sense of calm evaporated. From his perspective he could see that at least half of the village was damaged, and at least four igloos had been destroyed outright. Worse still there was a large group of people seemingly penned in by what could only be soldiers.

This was all his fault, he should have listened to Sokka. It was clear to him that whoever these people were, they would destroy an entire town to get to him. Aang was suddenly unable to breathe, feeling far colder than he had a second ago. He drifted closer to the village, losing altitude.

He didn’t have much time to process any of this. Flying around while wearing yellow and orange clothes wasn’t exactly a stealth mission and someone spotted him. A second later a shout rang out from somewhere in the village. After a moment of silence what was close to two dozen firebenders all started trying to knock Aang out of the air.

Needless to say this was a difficult situation, even if the firebenders obviously weren’t very good at hitting a moving target. Aang was forced to fly in an erratic pattern. He pitched left and downwards, then up and rightwards before throwing himself into a dizzying loop. With each volley he dodged Aang lost a little more speed, forcing him to rely more and more on his bending to keep himself aloft.

Bending took effort, so did avoiding getting hit and reaching the village. He couldn’t do all three, so Aang let himself fall, bending a cushion of air on impact. Powdery snow billowed up around him, giving him a moment's breathing room. Then a burst of flame cut through the cloud, followed by four more and Aang scrambled for cover. The snowbank he chose was far from ample, and he fell back even further a second later.

It was becoming obvious that staying stationary wasn’t the best idea, more than a dozen firebenders were closing in. So Aang ran. He wasn’t running away, unlike any other kid unseasoned to combat would have. No, Aang was running towards the firebenders. He didn’t even have a plan, but his sickening guilt compelled him to do something to help the Southern Water Tribe.

This was no suicidal gesture of course. Airbenders are able to run quite quickly when assisted by their bending. And after a second, Aang had the proper momentum to jump right over the heads of the slowly approaching soldiers. With a rather forceful bit of bending he was able to propel himself all the way to the outskirts of the village, panicked firebender giving chase. 

Aang lost some time by botching the landing, but still made it halfway there when the first of the Firebenders was able to cut him off. Whoever he was he was, he clearly unaccustomed to Southern Temple style airbending. Aang was able to dodge with ease and responded with some bending of his own, sending the firebender flying into an igloo.

But Aang had planted himself in order to counterattack. In the time it took, one of the men chasing him had reached the outer range where he was able to throw his spear. Aang avoided being impaled by backing himself into a gap between two buildings. But somebody else was already there and attempting to grab him.

Aang blindly flailed at the assailant, forcing her off with a jet of pressurized air. But now, someone else was coming from the other end of the alley, so Aang jumped. He awkwardly hung in the air for a second, before tumbling through the roof of an igloo.

As the walls quickly began to be boiled away, Aang ran through the only wall not currently being bent at. He landed in the town square covered in clumps of packed snow. He was a sorry sight, gasping for air, his clothes singed around their edges. As Aang got to his feet he saw the firebenders closing from all directions. Nobody was attacking him, yet, he wasn’t sure they needed to either. Aang was getting the distinct impression that he was like a racoon-monkey finally getting cornered by an animal catcher.

Shooting a glance behind him, he saw the entire Water Tribe looking equal parts surprised and terrified looking right back at him. Katara was there, staring at him with the rest. Aang was pretty sure she hated him, but instead of glaring at him just she looked really sad. He tried to say something, but words just couldn’t come out.

There wasn’t any more time left so Aang looked away and faced the approaching soldiers. He couldn’t fight the whole crew, that much was clear to him, but maybe they didn’t know that. They obviously knew who he really was if they were looking for him, so maybe he could bluff his way out of his current predicament.

His initial proclamation of “I-I command you to halt,” came out weakly

Aang inhaled and planted his stance, “In the name of the Avatar, not one step closer.”

“Or?” A young sounding voice replied. It came from a teenager who couldn’t have been more than a couple years older than he was. Despite that, she was dressed in officer’s regalia and was among the ranks of firebenders slowly closing in.

“I’ll make you.” Aang lamely replied.

She chuckled, looking Aang up and down coldly “You’re just a child.”

“Yeah well you’re just a teenager.”

He heard a couple muffled exhalations at his quip, but the girl seemed unphased.

“Well it looks like you’ve bested me. My secret is out.” She said sarcastically. “I suppose hostages you’re trying to defend aren’t in bending range then, since I’m just a teenager. Oh and you’re not outnumbered either.”

The girl tensed, bringing her stance lower, her gaze remained fixed on Aang. A pit formed in Aang’s stomach. If she was just threatening him this would be a lot easier, but she wasn’t. A lot of people would get hurt if he messed up. Needless to say, Aang wasn’t very keen on that. 

“I don’t know if you’re bluffing Avatar.” She continued. “But I’m not. So go ahead. Make me.”

She took exactly one step forward, looking Aang in the eyes as she did it. Aang dropped his staff, and held out his hands. 

“I surrender.” Aang said, mustering all the courage he had left, “But only if you let everyone go.”

“Don’t worry, I don’t have another use for these savages.” She smirked, “I always wondered what type of coward wouldn’t even defend his own people, well, now I don’t have to.”

With that troubling statement Aang didn’t know exactly what to make of, he was escorted away in shackles. True to her word the Southern Water Tribe was released, their home a smoldering ruin.

***

Less than an hour later Katara was ready to go. She would have gone sooner if her Kayak hadn’t been buried by the Fire Nation battleship’s rough landing. She wasn’t going to let them take Aang, who had apparently been the Avatar, or her brother. Realistically this was a suicide mission, but that hadn’t stoped either of them.

“Katara, what are you doing?”

Katara was at a loss for words. How could she tell Gran-Gran that her last of her family left was going off after a battleship alone?

“Firstly you’re going to need a pair of warmer boots, and did you even pack any food? You’re going to need to eat, you know.”

Turning around, Katara saw Gran-Gran with a large satchel filled with supplies. Before Katara could say a word, she was in grips of a surprisingly tight hug.

“Come back. Be safe.”

Katara hugged her back. “Don’t worry Gran-Gran, I will.”

There wasn’t anything else to say. She knew if she stayed any longer she wouldn’t be able to bring herself to leave. Before Gran-Gran could say anything an unlikely third party broke their silence, a lone sky bison grumbling its way towards the village. Assuming that it could actually fly, Katara’s rescue plan had just become a lot more realistic.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As with the last chapter, please leave any feedback ya want. I can take meanness so if "ur a stinky bad writer and you’re writing sucks" is all you have to say, by all means say it. 
> 
> For real though, it means a lot to me that you've read to this point. So thank you. 
> 
> P.S  
> Were the pov switches too much to follow? Originally they were all broken up, but I felt like some flowed better without the beaks. It's an easy fix, so if that's the case do tell.


	3. The Great escape

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> While writing in a half awake state around 2 am I had written Katara simply as "Water" twice in one paragraph. I'm not sure what exactly that says about me, but I do know I nearly woke up my whole family laughing my ass off.

Katara was flying. The chill air whipped at her face, her hands trembled as she gripped the saddle and looking over the side of the sky bison’s saddle made her want to throw up. She was loving every second of it. The world as she knew it had melted away into a distant tapestry of water and ice. It was freeing, like being out in the open sea on a kayak, but without the currents threatening to sweep you away.

Anything she focused her gaze on would fast fall behind her. That gave her the impression of tremendous speed, but with no real metric to define her pace, all she knew was that she was going fast over the icy ocean. Fast enough that the Fire Nation ship with its coal engine was getting larger in the distance.

Despite how far she had gone, Katara still didn’t have a plan. So far her best bet would be to do whatever it was she had done to that iceberg while arguing with Sokka. If she could do that again, and bring a whole lot of ice down onto the ship, maybe she could make something happen.

But besides that she didn’t have the slightest idea what to do. She didn’t know anything about Fire Nation ships, or what exactly she’d be facing once she landed. To be honest she didn’t even know if they even still had Sokka and Aang, or if they’d just done what the Fire Nation always does to whoever resists them. 

As Katara worried over her next move, a flash of light pricked at the corner of her eye. It was gone by the time she looked right at it, seemingly located somewhere on the ship. It twinkled again, it looked like a reflection of some sort. Whatever it was, Katara knew it couldn’t be good.

On the decks of the Sozin class Battleship, Private Tahei had just spotted a very odd looking cloud with his telescope. It was far too small and fast moving to not be important, but he couldn’t be sure what exactly it was. On closer inspection, it had horns and someone looked like they were riding on it’s back. Thinking that he was clearly going insane, Tahei blinked a dozen times and refocused his gaze on the cloud. It was still there, and looked exactly like a bison.

Despite how absurd it was, Tahei considered it prudent to report what he had seen. Unfortunately he had forgotten it was Petty Officer Sakda who was currently on shift. She was one of the volunteers who had enlisted in the memory of late prince Ozai. Not one of the unfortunates thinking they’d score an easy post, like he was.

That meant instead of the message being safely carried up the chain of command, he’d have to follow along with her to report it directly. This was less than ideal, because his double length shift was ending, and some of the landing force had requisitioned some liquor. Matashichi had promised he’d share his portion, but Tahei wasn’t sure he’d save any if he didn’t show up soon.

He grumbled to himself as he climbed the steps up the central tower. The Princess had her quarters up there, too good to bunk with the rest. Not that anyone was really disappointed, nobody would have a second’s rest if she was around.

As if the world itself conspired to waste his time, there were two guards posted between them and the Princess’s quarters. They currently looked like they were fending off boredom more than any assassins. Tahei had to wonder, who exactly did the Princess think she was? From his understanding she didn’t have any enemies. It could just be she was paranoid, the spirits knew anyone who grew up in the palace was self important enough to think they were the focal point of the entire world.

As Tahei stood around impatient, Sakda bowed, and gave her report. The guard on the left walked down the hall and knocked on the princess’ door. For a second nothing really happened, the guard just stood around awkwardly waiting for an answer while Tahei and Sakda stood at attention. Then the guard nodded and returned to his posts. Tahei followed behind Sakda, praying to anything that’d listen that his report wouldn’t get him laughed off into another two shifts.

***

Exactly two floors beneath where Tahei was standing, Aang was suspended from the ceiling by steel chains attached to steel cuffs. His legs were likewise shackled. The restraints were taught enough that he hardly wiggle around, let alone bend with his limbs. The subtle lurching of the ship pushed and pulled at his body, cramping every one of his muscles beyond belief. This was by design, the Fire Nation did not like the idea of bending prisoners with loose muscles aboard their ships.

It goes without saying that Aang wanted to leave his cell. But before he could even think about doing that, he had a cellmate to deal with. It was Sokka, the same negative Water Tribe boy who had spent the day trying to get rid of him.

Aang had spilled everything, him being the Avatar, the whole story about how he attempted to defend the village. According to Sokka it had been a ”really bad lie” and next time Aang should have “at least tried to make it sound real.” Aang could understand why Sokka may not be the warmest towards him. But there was a very clear reason why he should in fact trust Aang, one which he was now beginning to explain.

“Sokka, we’re both in the same cell, taken prisoner by the same person. What reason would I have to lie?” Aang gave him his winning smile for good measure. That always seemed to make the monks back at the temple believe him.

“That’s what you want me to think isn’t it? You’re in it with that Fire-Woman and the Firelord, and the Fire Nation.” Sokka rose steadily in volume with every word, “You want my secrets. Well I won’t give them up!”

“What secrets?” Aang sighed

“Wouldn’t you like to know?” Sokka clearly thought he had caught Aang in a lie with that one.

“No, Sokka, I keep telling you, I don’t. What could you possibly be hiding? They were clearly after me not… whatever you think I’m after”

“Shifting tactics to reverse psychology I see, but it won’t work on me.” Sokka smirked, turning his head away Aang.

Aang stopped talking, even if Sokka would probably take that as reverse-reverse psychology.

In the corner a pipe was slowly building condensation. The ship groaned a bit and Aang felt a slight bump, perhaps the result of the wave. The flicker on the gaslamp seemed to follow a semi regular pattern on closer inspection. The flames peaked every third of a second with a dim period lasting half that, except when it didn’t. Checking back on the pipe, it looked like there'd eventually be a droplet of water at that rate moisture was building.

“Sokka, is there anything I could possibly do to make you trust me?” Aang broke.

Sokka hummed in mock contemplation. “Yes. Break me out of here. And while you’re at it, why don’t you make that air buffalo of yours fly. That shouldn’t be a problem for the oh so mighty Avatar.”

“Okay.” Aang nodded. “How do you want to do this?”

“I was being sarcastic, you can’t do any of those things, that’s why I listed them out… Hey! You’re trying to get my escape plans aren’t you?”

That was it, Aang was starting to get angry. Yes, anger may be the pathway to many unsavory situations, but this constant stream of paranoia was getting too much to take.

“I tried my best, I really did. Okay? I feel awful about this, but you’re not helping. All you’ve done is call me a spy and a jerk. Do you want to stay here forever?”

Aang felt himself begin to say hurtful things, and didn’t stop himself.

“Maybe if you weren’t such an idiot, you’d realize there is literally no reason why I’d choose to be here. Why would anyone want to be in the same room as you and your dumb ponytail? You’re awful!’

“I’m not the one who’s working for the Fire Nation.” Sokka snarled. “People like you came in boats and took all of our benders away. You’re the awful one, kidnapper.”

Despite being in the middle of a rather heated argument, Aang perked up at what Sokka had said. He finally had something to work with, all the proof he needed that he wasn’t working with the Fire Nation. Then he could finally get around to getting out of his chains.

“But Katara’s a bender.” Aang interjected. “If I were a spy, wouldn't she be in here with us?”

Saying it out loud, something about that sounded, really really wrong to Aang, especially after those comments Katara’s grandmother had made about him being “extinct. Worse still, rather than looking convinced by his plea Sokka looked really, really angry.

“What did you say about my sister?” Sokka was staring daggers at Aang.

“Oh, uh that she’s safe?”

Sokka attempted to throttle Aang despite his shackles. To Aang it looked like Sokka was pathetically thrashing in his general direction. Soon he resorted to glaring at Aang across the room.

Soon Aang could hear the footfalls of an approaching guard, probably brought over by all the commotion. Sokka righted himself into a relaxed stance, and gave Aang a very worrying smirk.

“Help, help! My cellmate is trying to kill me!” Sokka shouted.

***

The Princess’s room was surprisingly dour. Tahei had expected silk bedding and tapestries covering up the ugly steel walls. Instead what all he got was a writing desk, a futon tucked into a corner and a small shrine burning incense.

Azula was sitting at the writing desk, with ink and a brush. From the looks of it she was writing the fifth copy of the same message. From what he could see Tahei thought her handwriting was some of the best he’d ever seen, probably the result of some stuffy tutor.

Sakda gave a full bow, Tahei realizing he should probably do that too, sprung into his a second later.

“Your majesty,” Sakda began. “Private Second Class Tahei has spotted something irregular, we are here to report”

Azula finished the character she was writing before responding. “Well, what was it?”

Tahei found himself looking Azula directly in the eyes. His heart missed a beat and he felt very, very cold.

“What appeared to be a flying bison, your grace.” Azula's expression did not even shift, at what was the least likely report she’d probably ever been given. “It was rapidly moving, and had what looked like a passenger.”

Tahei braced for what was coming next. He’d be thrown out of the room, forced to work overtime. He’d miss out on the festivities that everyone had been planning. Worse still he’d be called an idiot for however much longer he’d be on this hellish ship.

Instead the princess stood up, abruptly putting down her brush. “At ease. Sound the order for battlesta-”

A loud thump shook the ship. Tahei bumped into Sakda and the ink dish that Princess Auzla had been using sprayed its contents all over her. This was the result of a chain reaction that started two floors beneath their feet.

It began when the guard assigned to Aang and Sokka’s cell entered to break up their squabble. Sokka had loudly claimed Aang was attacking him. Their jailer seemed to believe him and moved over to address Aang, who had promptly panic-bended. As it turns out that the restraints the Fire Nation employed did not account for the breath projection that Airbenders routinely employed.

The pressurized breath threw the unfortunate guard onto Sokka at a very high speed. He was then knocked unconscious in a hail of metal paneling, as the ceiling that held up the chains proved to be a fair bit weaker than the chains themselves. Now the unconscious firebender was laying on top of Sokka; who Aang hoped was fine, despite all the pain noises he was making. If he was, all he had to was get the key right next to him, and they’d be free.

“You okay?” Aang cautiously asked.

Sokka groaned and pushed the jailer off him, not responding to Aang. Sugglishly he pawed the key from the jailers belt and spent what felt like forever fumbling out of his restraints. Either he’d accidentally hit Sokka on the head or he’d never used a key before in his life.

“Okay now let me out. You can trust me, I got you free, just like you wanted me to!” The Aang pleaded, hoping Sokka would somehow forget that he’d made the request sarcastically.

Sokka looked a smiling Aang up and down, probably thinking of a dozen scenarios how this could turn out to be a trap. Aang really didn’t want to be left behind, but was bracing himself for the likely conclusion.

“Well you still owe me a flying buffalo” Sokka grumbled as he released Aang from his shackles

A dozen muscles Aang didn’t know were cramped woke up all at once. It was a forgone conclusion that he’d be sore tomorrow. Still Aang was pleasantly surprised, maybe Sokka could be worked with afterall!

“Okay now what?” Aang asked.

“What? Why are you asking me?” Sokka looked startled.

“You said like you had a plan earlier.” Aang blinked, “You do right?”

“I was bluffing.” Sokka walked towards the door. “Let’s just get out of here.”

Exactly as he did so, a firm knock came from the other side .

“Hey, you okay there?” An older man’s voice asked.

Aang tensed and Sokka needlessly muffled him with his hand.

In what sounded like the deepest voice he could manage Sokka responded, “Everything is okay! I’m dealing with the prisoners, all fine. Some paneling fell loose I’m afraid. ”

“You don’t sound okay, you sure you don’t need help with anything? I mean this is the Avatar.”

Sokka froze, eyes darting around the room. He took his hand off Aang’s mouth and pantomimed what looked like bending. Aang hoped he got the right message.

“Uh… Yes, on second thought please come in.” Sokka was jerking his head towards the door, tracing his finger over his throat, while speaking.

The bulkhead door was turning, Aang tensed. The moment it opened, Aang airbended with all of his force. It slammed hard into whoever was opening it, sending them flying backwards. A startled second guard was swept off his feet by airbending Aang. He darted out of the room followed by Sokka, who kicked the downed guards for good measure.

“Why did you do that? That wasn’t the plan!” Sokka fumed. He didn’t bother continuing as he followed Aang, conserving his breath for the escape dash.

Aang was starting to wonder if it really had been, left, left, right, left to get out, when he ran into the first of the ship’s crew, who seemed as startled as they were. Aang bolted in the other direction, giving up on navigation.

A tinny voice came over the intercom, “All crew to battle stations, this is not a drill.”

Someone shouted from the direction they ran from. The sound of footfalls on a steel floor echoed in the confined hallways, and a door to the left of Aang was opening. But down the very end of the hallway there was a door, marked ‘exit’.

“Sokka, grab my shirt.”

Sokka grabbed onto his sleeve, and gave a questioning look. Before he could voice his confusion, Aang ran with the assistance of his airbending, dragging Sokka along. The couple of firebenders who had turned the corner in pursuit found themselves clutching at nothing but thin air.

Aang pulled himself out of the hatch, gasping for air. Everything burned. Between the fight earlier that day, the restraints, and now this, Aang wasn’t sure how much he had left in him. But there was shouting behind him, so Aang forced himself up. Then he heard the whirring of machinery and watched a fiery projectile fly through the air. The only possible target was Appa, who seemed to have found him, somehow. Aang suddenly found himself brimming with energy, as panic replaced pain.

***

To give credit where credit was due, Katara was handling the entire situation as well as she could have. Most people unaccustomed to flying would have panicked at the prospect of anti-sky bison fire. Katara simply pulled onto the reins as hard as she could and silently prayed to whoever would listen.

Someone it appeared, had been listening, because rather than plunging into the ice water as a mangled corpse, Appa avoided the projectile, mostly of his own accord. Just as Katara righted Appa’s course, the second trebuchet fired. The fiery ball of pitch seemed to hang in the air for a second, appearing to grow larger instead of moving. As Katara yanked the reins again, she was acutely aware her life was in the hands of an overgrown flying cow.

***

Sokka could see how this whole situation would play out. Aang would make some dumb dash for the massive fire nation weapons that Sokka didn’t the name of. Then he’d fight off a couple of startled crew before getting dogpiled. If he could actually manage to fight off the whole ship, he would have done it back at his village.

Sokka meanwhile had an excellent plan that he could realistically achieve. Let all that happen, and hope that he found a lifeboat before somebody remembered to care about him. It did look like the kid was telling the truth about being the Avatar, so they weren’t after Sokka. It wasn’t like he could help anyway, so in that sense, it wasn’t even a cowardly thing to do. Or at least Sokka told himself it wasn’t.

As Aang frantically charged to save his sky bison, Sokka ran in the opposite direction. Frantically scrambling across the deck he scanned for any lifeboats, or signs marked “lifeboat”. Seeing none on the entire right side of the ship, Sokka had to wonder about the safety standards on the vessel. On top of that the paint was flaking, and sections lacked railing. Sokka found it hard to believe that this was all they’d sent after the Avatar. 

He didn’t have much time to dwell on the state of the battleship, because behind him the exit he escaped from swung open. Two crew exited, noticeably panting. One was a woman, which seemed to be a theme with the Fire Nation. Not that he tried his luck with her, Sokka was weaponless, not really into his groove yet, and had the slightest inkling that maybe Fire Nation women did in fact fight back. 

For a moment Sokka thought that he was going to make it. At the end of the ship there was a lifeboat or at least something covered in a tarp in the shape of a lifeboat. But unfortunately for him Sokka quickly realized that the Fire Nation didn’t just leave the rear of their ship entirely empty during combat.

In fact there were three members of the signal crew, two Firebenders, and a reserve mechanic. All of them had seen the fleeing Sokka run towards them. This of course meant Sokka couldn’t exactly go over to the lifeboat and sneak off with it. He couldn’t go back either, being pursued and all, so he committed a third option and made a mad dash hoping he’d get there first.

He didn’t get there first, he arrived third in fact. One of the firebenders was less than ten feet away, and the one of the singal crew wasn’t much farther. The following struggle was over before it really even started. Sokka’s haymaker painfully bounced off the firebender’s helmet and one of his pursuers got him in a headlock. Less than a minute later he was being dragged towards the same door he'd burst out of.

This compromised position gave Sokka a clear view of Appa’s rapid descent towards the decks. The sky bison had stopped listening to Katara around the time he spotted Aang. While did trust the human who currently rode him, his owner was battling off the people trying to shoot him. Appa was not going to listen to anything that got between them. Aang was family.

He landed with a bellow. The impact shook the ship, and threw everyone’s footing loose. Aang simply fell over. He was a sooty mess, already running on empty by the time he made it to the front of the ship. Attempting to fight off a gunnery crew and a deck full of firebenders had drained what little energy he had left.

To see his best friend in such a shape angered Appa. A worldly beast of little introspection, he had no concept of why this was, he simply knew the humans wearing red were attacking.

Appa did what came naturally to him. First he head butted one the metal devices that had attacked him, wrecking it. Then he let his tail fall, the shockwave that followed threw everyone in a broad cone backwards. Appa turned to face these red wearing humans and charged scattering the disorientated attackers. He likely would have gone on to smash a couple, but a gout of blue fire erupted in front of him.

“Get back you beast.” The source of the fire snarled at the sky bison.

Appa retreated as the human produced more fire. A blue whip extended, and nearly struck Appa, who only avoided it by rearing back even further. The people who had been running started gathering together and closing in together. Appa was forced to edge back even more, stopping only when Aang was directly behind him. Appa’s grumbled and hunched, preparing for another charge.

Katara meanwhile was beside a barely conscious Aang, who weakly smiled up at her.

“What are you doing here? I thought you were safe.” He mumbled.

Aang obviously didn’t want her to be here, and to some extent she did understand that she was directly negating his sacrifice. But Katara had seen enough self sacrificial nonsense for a lifetime. She wasn’t in the mood to allow a second round on her behalf.

“I’m getting you out of here, okay? Where’s Sokka?”

Aang started at that and shakily got to his feet.

“He was right behind me, I-”

Appa’s bellow drowned out whatever else would have said. Katara hadn’t spent her life around livestock, only ever seeing reindeer-elk when the herders came by the village every summer. But even she could tell that sound was one of fear and pain.

“Nice to see you again Avatar, I see you’re giving up on our little deal.” Azula spat from the other side of Appa. “Is running away your only talent?”

Rather than responding, Aang got up at once, oddly tensing in a way she’d never seen before. Around her Katara felt the air stirring, cold and bitter. Aang was rising off his feet now, his arms outstretched his eyes and tattoos glowing a pale blue. 

“Pathetic.” Azula’s voice sounded closer. “I expected something better from the Avatar.”

As Aang rose above Appa, even Azula seemed taken aback, if only for a moment. Aang brought down an arm, the winds visabley slammed onto the deck, smashing the remaining trebuchet, and scattering a dozen of the crew. Counterbending dispersed pitifully against the swirling air around him.

Katara realized that she was witnessing the first display of the Avatar’s power in a century. It was humbling, and disquieting in equal measures. But more humbling was her own attempts at bending, attempting to assist in the desprate struggle. Her clumsy gestures did nothing to the thin layer of water on the decks.

Azula meanwhile had no such issues. Trained nearly from birth, she had quickly crouched and braced her stance against the wind. With an inhale she brought her fingertips together and then apart with an exhale. A crackle of energy emerged and Katara had no doubt that she intended to direct it at the Avatar.

Aang didn’t seem to register this, or anything else for that matter. He merely rose suspended in his own unnatural glow. It looked like the elements were nearly bending themselves with Aang as more of an eye in the storm than human.

She didn’t know exactly what was happening, unversed in bending as she was. But her split second reaction registered the firebending girl to be a very real threat. So she threw her entire body once again into her bending. This time the waters responded, splashing the girl rather lamely.

The effect however, was rather pronounced, a split second later. The energy Azula had so carefully harnessed, leapt from her and into the conductive waters. The immediate explosion as she attempted to divert its course sent her flying.

The rest of the crew didn’t exactly have a better time at things either. The oceans now lapped dangerously at the side of the ship, and the wind seemed to be a solid thing shoving everyone off their feet. Aang outstretched arms channeled the winds harder and harder, with minute gestures seawater lashed the ship in tendrils. Soon there wasn’t a single conscious firebender on deck, everyone either fled or had been unable to withstand the assault.

Aang crumpled, truly and finaly spent. Katara rushed over to where he was sprawled. He still looked like a kid, even if he had just defeated a whole battleship’s worth of soldiers. It was wrong, Katara thought, that any of this was happening let alone to someone his age. Nonetheless she dragged Aang to Appa, and began hauling his limp body onto Appa like a sack of arctic potatoes. Moping about how awful things were never got anyone anywhere, Katara had learned that lesson years ago.

Around the time Katara finally got Aang onto Appa’s back one or two of the least affected crew were getting back up. Slow and groggily yes, but Katara doubted they’d stay like that for long. She still hadn’t gotten Sokka, and she was wondering if she even could. Aang was spent, Katara didn’t have any delusions about her waterbending and Appa was too uncontrollable to be of much use.

In the end there didn’t seem to be an option. Katara would have to regroup and come back for Sokka, it hurt, but she had to be strong.

“Yip yip.” Katara forced.

Appa lifted off. Someone shouted from the tower. Katara braced herself with the impending barrage. If someone was in the command tower they would have easily avoided all of Aang’s. Then the same voice shouted again, hoarsely.

“KATARA, OVER HERE.” It was Sokka, halfway out one of the porthole windows.

How he had gotten up to the uppermost floor was as much a mystery as why he had Aang’s glider tucked under one arm. He was not doing well for himself however, gripping onto the rim of the window.

He was kicked blindly at somebody inside and nearly pushed himself all the way out the window in the process. For a second, he dangled from one hand as Katara angled Appa to fly by Sokka. His hand slipped, but rather than breaking multiple bones on the cool steel of the deck, he merely bruised himself on the relatively softer sky bison saddle.

They cleared the ship seconds later, half panting with exhaustion, half laughing.

Katara was the first to speak, “How'd you get up there?”

“There was a ladder and nobody was really looking at me. When everything started glowing I climbed it.”

“No I mean the window.”

“I ran, but the doors on the ship didn’t lock. Only way out was the window.”

“A window?”

“It worked didn’t it?”

“Only because of a flying bison.”

“First off I’m pretty sure it’s a buffalo.” Sokka posited weakly.

Katara was too tired to argue any longer. She sort of fell backwards and let Appa take them wherever he’d go. It wasn’t like she knew where she was going anyway.

***

Meanwhile an ink stained Princess Azula was being informed that a Water Tribe savage had barricaded himself in, and pilfered her the airbender’s staff from her quarters. If that wasn’t bad enough, her ship would have to undergo extensive repairs, and at least fifth of the crew were now injured.

Azula suffered through a round of private hyperventilation. She could feel her inner flame welling up from the frustration, this was another in a long line of failures, each slightly more painful than the last. She hated her crew, she hated the savages that had mocked her, and of course she hated her uncle more than anyone else.

Azula forced herself to breathe deeply just like her father had taught her. She focused on the faces of everyone who had wronged her, she calmed herself on thoughts of vindication, and the exact ways she’d punish them all. And soon like so many other bad thoughts, they were tucked away in useful boxes and Azula could now focus on the future. Her flame felt a little bit hotter than before, just as it had every other time she failed.

As her head cleared, it occurred to her that she would need to amend the memos she had been writing. Finding the Avatar was still worth reporting even if he had eluded her. That alone would be a prestigious achievement, and if she failed to take credit someone else surely would. Azula hardly slept that night, but all twelve of the ship’s messenger hawks were sent out a lengthy handwritten report attached to each.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Glad that you've read to the end! This fic has quickly become the most fun I've since the whole Covid thing started. I'm planning for the next chapter to be far more fluffy, because I just NEED to write these dorks in some more light hearted situations. 
> 
> Please leave any thoughts you have. Grammar errors you've found, criticism, and of course plenty of sycophantic praise for my flawless work.


	4. A dead end posting

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> New and Edited! (Probably still has tons of Grammar errors because I am stupid.)

Commander Zhao was not having a good day. He hated his posting, he hated his staff and more than anything else, he hated how he’d been pigeonholed the same backwater outpost for more than three years. It was becoming increasingly obvious he’d never leave. At this point he had no doubt that his name was on one of those long lists in the capital, and that some worthless bureaucrat had decided to blacklist him by mere association to a dead man.

He commanded what passed for a naval base. He considered it nothing more than a coaling station with a small dockyard and walled off barracks attached. The town it was built in was it’s perfect companion, with barely more to it than a fish market and seedy wharf. Outside of fishing, it’s only industry of note was entertaining bored sailors at a dozen taverns lined up and down the only paved street.

Of course his post was underfunded as well. Fate would offer nothing less but total humiliation for Zhao. He found himself just far enough away from any fronts to not receive proper resources. But just close enough to not be particularly safe from any raids. Half of the ports across the southern coast were like this. If the Southern Water Tribe really wanted to, they could shatter the supply lines that kept the Omashu campaign a stalemate, not an all out disaster.

He wondered if the Firelord just hated some admiral in the southern fleet, maybe that would explain the current state of affairs. There was no way the North Pole actually was worth all the resources the northern fleet was getting. The entire campaign was the sunken cost fallacy at it’s finest. Literally in many cases, as entire squadrons had swallowed up by the icy waters.

Those isolationist savages hadn’t been a threat in Sozin’s time, and the spirits knew that the Firelord didn’t need the extra prestige, he’d already taken Ba Sing Se for crying out loud. Zhao wondered if the Firelord even knew the value hidden in the North Pole. He doubted it, as that would require the fat bastard to have actually known the first thing about spirits.

The spirits probably hated the old man, being the Firelord. Zhao knew from experience that the spirits hated someone for something as simple as reading the wrong thing, so he doubted they would approve of him civilizing Ba Sing Se. So to Zhao it seemed that the goal of the Firelord was to conquer every wasteland, not willing to share any of the glory. 

That of course meant that the Firelord had chosen to defend the valuable territory he already had. Not to say that he found his base really that valuable. Not even the pirates in the area seemed to care about the little town. If they ever showed up Zhao had considered the prospect of just surrendering and letting the whole thing burn.

A firm knock on the doors to his quarters interrupted Zhao’s thoughts. He knew he had finally lost it, because the arrival of a message excited him. He truly had nothing better to do.

Judging by the labeling, whoever had sent It must have been truly desperate. They had sent a message to his base afterall. It was most likely a lone ship had been ravaged by pirates, and he would have to mop up the resulting mess. 

Moving to remove the scroll from its case, he saw that it bore a royal seal. Zhao suddenly went from a bored sense of curiosity to keen interest in whatever was inside.

Careful to not break the wax seal, he opened the case and unfurled the scroll. In neat calligraphy, and in no uncertain terms, it briefly detailed an encounter with the Avatar. According to the rather outlandish account, he had apparently been hiding in the South Pole. More shockingly, the airbender around the age of twelve, had escaped captivity with the assistance of tribals and a flying bison. 

Of note, though hardly the focus of the report, was the fact that the Southern Raiders had failed to root out the Southern waterbenders. Zhao found the fact that after all his swagger Yon Rha was ultimately a failure incredibly satisfying. So much for his ‘legacy’ that he had flaunted when Zhao served under him. 

After rereading it multiple times, Zhao remained entirely baffled. Details seemed as absurd as the first time he read them. Multiple events had to have been exaggerated, the age of the Avatar most obviously. But this was still a detailed high priority message, written by Princess Azula. So either the girl had lost it down at the pole, or she’d chosen to risk her entire standing for a reason. From what he heard, she was of different stock than either her brother or uncle, so Zhao suspected the latter. 

Of course he was as optimistic as he was because the Princess was headed to his port. Yes, only because it was the damaged vessel’s only choice, but she was on her way all the same. This left Zhao with an opportunity that could materialize into a better post if handled correctly. Royalty tended to leave a trail of promotions wherever they went.

Zhao realized that he would have to make the base presentable, and see if he could find some expensive tea. To that end he promptly canceled all leave and put the entire base into triple length shifts. Considering there was actual work to be done, Zhao thought they should be grateful, but he knew well enough they wouldn’t be.

***

Meanwhile in the Southern Air temple Aang reeled at the sight of an old friend. His bones, nearly one hundred years old lay slumped around a scattered ring of unmistakably Fire Nation corpses. What little shreds of denial and hope he had held onto up to that point slipped away as he entered the Avatar state.

As a result, temples across the entire world displayed unmistakable miracles. In Caldera City the Firesages witnessed the statue of Avatar Roku glow with a pale light. Within ten minutes the head priest was addressing the Firelord. As dozens of other reports filtered from temple after temple, it was determined that the Avatar had in fact returned.

With such stunning news, the Princess’ reports written days in advance of the miracles had gone from a matter of debate to fact. She had found the Avatar, through no means other than her own ambition and the pitance the Fire Lord had provided her. Breaking the recent tradition of distant bureaucratic rule the Firelord chose to send a direct message to his subjects.

Within hours, the capital was mass producing thousands of scrolls by steam powered printing presses. Each contained Azula’s description, along with the fist direct orders from the Firelord since the banning of Pai Sho clubs dome three years earlier. As the first batches were sent out, a fleet of hawks informed the fire nation that Avatar was alive, and to be brought before the Firelord in chains.

In a single line at the end of the scroll, praise was given to Princess Azula for her “Daring” action, and the initiative she took to find the hiding place of the Avatar. Despite the section’s rather short length, it would not escape notice exactly who it was who found the Avatar.

It wasn’t the Firelord who had discovered the Avatar. Despite being the great proponent of “New Sozinism”, it was Ozai’s daughter who had reignited Sozin’s failed search. Nobody voiced this sentiment out loud of course, but the irony was not lost to many.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always if you have feedback, give it. Capisce?


	5. Kyoshi Adventures

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had so much fun writing this chapter it kinda got away from me. What started as a bit of fluff, made me really thing a lot about the Gaang and just how complex they all are. Hope you like it!

Aang was feeling a bit better than he was yesterday, or two days ago. He still wasn’t doing okay by any means. Walking into a room filled with the bleached bones of people you knew was upsetting beyond what words really could describe. But he was trying his best to keep everything together, and it felt like he was doing a decent job. 

The whole time he had been in the water with the elephant koi, he hadn’t been thinking about any of it. Maybe all he needed was a bit of a vacation and he’d feel better. Then he’d be able to ready be the Avatar. But for now he just had to get the Water Tribe sibling’s opinions on his most recent gliding trick. 

“So? What do you think?” Aang asked from where he was laying on the beach after his crash landing. 

“That was cool and all, but we still need to find lunch” Sokka was rifling through the packs not even looking at Aang. “We’re low on food again.”

Aang had to admit relying on a lemur’s contribution was not a very good long term strategy. They had eaten well for a couple days, but now they had nothing but old fruit.

“Maybe you could fish if you’re hungry.” Katara piped in from where she had been sewing the tear in Sokka’s pants. It took an extended bout of nagging from Sokka, but she had finally conceded. 

Aang did have to admit, eating meat sure seemed convenient. But he would not abandon his morals for convenience’s sake. “Um, Katara, I can’t eat fish, remember?” 

“Fish isn’t meat though.” Sokka unhelpfully responded, “It tastes completely different.”

“It’s not the taste, it’s that it comes from something living. Maybe we could look for berries, or roots or something.” Aang blushed slightly, feeling rather like a burden. “You guys sure seem good at that sort of stuff, so maybe you could teach me.” 

Sokka shook his head. “Not this far north. Plants are different, everything too green to tell anything apart.” 

Aang laughed at that last bit. “What do you mean too green?”

“Well, this is nothing like the South Pole, it was all snow down there.” Katara chipped in again, giving up on Sokka’s pants for the time being. “This is weird to us.” 

“Well once we’re done here, I’ve just got to show you the South Bay Jungle!” Aang beamed, “If you think this green, you’re in for a shock! It’s even on the way to the North Pole, so we don’t have to make that much of a detour.” 

Sokka looked like he was about to open his mouth. Probably about to say something about how they needed to go to the North Pole as fast as possible and how no fun whatsoever was allowed. But Katara spoke up first, with that pretty smile that made Aang feel weird. 

“I’d love to. But, first let's find ourselves lunch, we’ll figure it out the details then.” Something about the way Katara said that made him suspicious that she didn’t want to go either. But she was right, he was hungry. If they got food they’d be thinking straight and then he could convince them!

“Appa! Momo! Behave, we’re off to get some food.” Aang shouted over to where his animal companions were enjoying the beach. 

“Sure let's find you some veggies.” Sokka grumbled, muttering something unintelligible about ‘mouse-rabbit food’. 

“Awesome, let’s head that way!” Aang said, unknowingly leading the trio into an ambush by the Kyoshi warriors. 

***

A stretch of ocean away Azula sat down for a cup of tea. She didn’t particularly care for it, tending to associate it with her uncle. But etiquette was etiquette, and Azula had no reason to appear like a poor guest even to a lowly commander. She needed his resources, so it was best to be gracious.

Besides the tea, which seemed properly expensive she was thoroughly unimpressed. The base was poorly maintained and staffed by the laziest soldiers she’d ever seen. It was so poorly defended in fact, it would only take a half dozen earthbenders to capture the whole thing.

Judging from how half the dockyard was empty despite there being no major patrol, the base was far from a vital post. According to the estimate of the repair crew, repairs would take at least another week and a half. That didn’t account for a portion of her engine that if too damaged could take a couple of months for the proper parts to arrive. 

“Thank you for your hospitality, Commander Zhao. The seas have been particularly rough as of late.” Azula said, entirely omitting her disdain over her poor reception. 

“Anything for the hero of the Fire Nation.” Zhao nodded as deep as was polite, and no further

“Hero, how so?’” This was news to Azula. Were her messages well received? If so, she had some leverage to work with.

“Your report arrived at my station twelve hours before the high command’s own. They seem to have agreed on your description of the Avatar. The Firelord himself is impressed.” 

Zhao paused, and sipped from his tea. He seemed to be judging her reaction, seeing if he could use her somehow. Azula had made sure to show no emotion, and not display any excitement. She was young, and if she made even the slightest outburst she could be seen as juvenile. That would taint her interactions, the commander could take that as a sign of naivety and drive a harder bargain. 

Seeing nothing, Zhao placed down his teacup and continued. “That was two days ago, since then an official bounty has already been commissioned with your description included. Reports have been sent to every posting between here and Ba Sing Se. You’re the hero of the hour.”

Zhao produced the scroll from his robe, presenting it to Azula. True to his word, it was addressed from the Firelord himself, something that had been markedly rare since Iroh took the throne. Of course it wasn’t his handwriting, rather it was a woodblock print that no doubt was made in order to mass produce this message to the armed forces of the Fire Nation.

And in this mass produced message, was a direct quote from Firelord Iroh himself, praising his niece before commanding all Fire Nation forces to be on the highest alert. If she had elicited a direct order like that her standing in court must have been elevated. Her prestige was finally out of the gutter. If only that could materialize into a better battleship. 

“I must commend you.” Zhao interjected as she returned the scroll to the table. “Selfless heroism and independent action a rare thing these days.” 

Azula’s interest piqued. What was this provincial officer doing, complaining to a member of the royal family? 

She chose to return his sentiment, carefully testing his meaning. “True, but that is the nature of our current fronts, is it not? Decisive action hardly pays off anymore.”

That was either a reference to the stalemates against Earth Kingdom and Northern Savages or the decline in promotions resulting from independent action. It was his choice on how to take it. 

“I must agree, it’s rarely worth it to take any risks as an officer anymore. But let us not forget the centralization was our ultimate goal from the beginning.” Zhao had understood her meaning and agreed, security statement notwithstanding. 

“But with centralization comes rigidity.” Azula countered, attempting to draw out some more honest opinions from the officer. “Say, if distant orders contradicted the realities on the ground, wouldn’t lead to a lot of missed opportunities?”

“And glory too.” Zhao said, his tone becoming businesslike, a smug grin creeping at the corners of his mouth. “The war is almost over, and there’s so little left.” 

Azula had herself a gloryhound who seemed displeased with the current state of affairs. She had considered scenarios where there were more than one captors of the Avatar. A lesser officer would be a rather good partner, as far as it went. His promotion would be owed to her assuming he got one, and in the official story I’d seem she took advantage of local resources rather than working with an equal. 

Considering he seemed like her only choice, she decided to make an offer. “Of course, there’s still some glory left to have. The Avatar is still close by, and orders from the Firelord himself have commanded us to find him. And while my ship is out of action, you have four.” 

Zhao's eyes narrowed as he stood up. He looked equal parts amused and suspicious. After a second he nodded and beckoned to the dockyard visible from a window. “I would be honored to host you on one of my ships. These waters are under my joint jurisdiction, and will gladly assist you in capturing the Avatar. Together, I doubt he’ll stand a chance.” 

This wasn’t going to be free, Azula wasn’t stupid. She would owe much of her success to him and he would have far reaching authority as long as it was his ships she commanded. But her prospects looked better than they did just minutes earlier, and it would be a lie to say that she wasn’t a bit optimistic. 

“You are too kind, commander.” Azula bowed politely. “If you would allow me to inspect the vessels.” 

***

As Azula arranged the particulars, Sokka huffed his way up to the dojo. He had been humiliated by girls twice in one week. Despite what he had told himself after the incident at the south pole, it wasn’t just some fluke. He had officially made a habit out of getting beat up by girls. 

Sure they might have had actual training, and experience and all of that, but it still wasn’t supposed to happen. He was a guy, and that meant he was supposed to be better at fighting, end of story.

None of that exactly boosted Sokka’s self esteem. He had built his entire identity around being the sole protector of his tribe. Without that he was just dead weight. And considering he had been anything but a protector earlier that week. He was doing the unthinkable, waiting patiently in front of a paper door. 

After a moment, he was greeted by one of the girls in makeup, who seemed to be amused by something he was doing. He wasn’t exactly sure what it was, but he hoped it wasn’t just him showing up.

“I was wondering where I could get a good workout. Practice the ol’ fighting and all that.” Sokka had resolved not to surrender his dignity, even if he was going to learn from a girl. 

The girl in makeup smiled, cocking an eyebrow, “You’re in the right place, we’re training right now.” 

Sokka recognized her voice, Suki was it? She was the leader of that group that’d snuck up on him. Still, Sokka was as unintimidated as he was unshakable. 

“G-good. Maybe you could, show me some moves...” Sokka had shown weakness and quickly moved to recover. “I’m a bit rusty to be honest. Not many Fire Nation goons down at the South Pole to have a go at.”

Silence followed as Sokka awkwardly chuckled. The girl didn’t really react one way or another. With a rather poor start, he followed her into the Dojo. 

“We have a very special guest today. A companion of the Avatar himself.” The Girl announced, as all eyes turned to Sokka. “He’s requested we show him some moves, you think we can manage?” 

A round of laughter followed. Sokka couldn’t figure if that’d been just friendly banter, or entirely at his expense. The pit in his stomach grew just a bit bigger. 

“Why don't we start with a bit of sparing? It’s good to know who you’re teaching before you show anyone anything.” Her tone could be called passive aggressive, if you dropped the passive bit. As much as Sokka normally would have objected to just about everything she said, but he really did need to learn how to fight. Even if she was a girl. 

“I’m my village’s best warrior. Maybe I could show you some moves as well.” Sokka fibbed, to no reaction. It seemed he’d have to impress them, Water Tribe style. 

Sokka flexed his muscles and walked towards the mats. In all honestly he was secretly terrified. His future as a man of the tribe would rest on the next couple of moments. He inhaled and exhaled and lowered himself into his fighting stance. 

Suki could tell this boy from the Water Tribe had no training. His posture was lousy, he was visibly swaying. His footwork may as well have been non-existent. All the while he smirked at her like he owned the place.

Suki didn’t know what to think. He was obviously a novice, but traveled with the Avatar. Despite clearly lacking any formal training, he mocked the idea of women warriors, after getting soundly defeated by them. Now he came to her sheepishly asking to be trained in roundabout ways, while bragging the entire time.

She internally sighed as she lowered into her stance. As easily as she could push right through him, she reasoned defeating the idiot with his own strike would be a more humbling experience. If she was more of a philosophical type she’d maybe could have spun this into a lesson on the shame of self destruction. But Suki just thought it’d be funny to absolutely beat this blathering idiot. 

The moment the match started, she could see Sokka tensing. His entire body was winding, telegraphing a haymaker far before it would be thrown. Suki felt a smile creep onto her face, she knew exactly what to do. Side step and sweep, a basic drill. For good measure she could probably use her sash to tie his wrists or something to that effect. 

To give credit where credit was due, Sokka had in fact learned at least something from his previous encounter with that Fire Nation girl. He wouldn’t recklessly throw his weight behind the same attack twice in a row. That didn’t mean that his ‘surprise’ left hook was effective. In fact he had thrown himself even more off balance than even his haymaker would’ve to perform this poorly thought out feint. 

Suki, able to react to the clumsy blow, quickly parried her forearm and jabbed her still closed fan into Sokka’s midsection. He stumbled back and gasped for air. Pulling on the lapel of Sokka’s shirt, Suki swept his legs, knocking him off his feet. 

Suki hadn’t expected that little trick. Probably because it wouldn’t have worked even if he had years of training, which he clearly did not. Still it seemed like he had a decent read on Suki’s expectations of him and attempted to use that to get an upper hand. If he was an idiot, he was a clever one, she had to concede that much. Nonetheless, he had attempted to humiliate her in her own dojo after a day of meaningless bravado, and her patience had worn thin already. 

“Impressive.” She remarked looking down at Sokka’s prone form. ”I assume this is one of the moves you were going to show me?”

Sokka pushed himself off the ground and fell back into his sloppy stance. “Oh, I’m not done yet.” 

Suki promptly kicked his lead leg. Sokka stumbled forward into a fan strike, this time aimed at the forehead. The second time in ten seconds, Sokka fell into an embarrassed heap on the mats. It wasn’t the pain he minded as much as the laughter. 

“Okay, okay I give up.” Sokka got to his feet pitifully. It was official, he couldn’t call himself a man anymore. 

Suki smirked, “Well I suppose this ends our ‘training’ session.” 

Sokka could practically feel the flames from the bridge he had just burnt. If he didn’t say something now he’d end up beaten by girls three times in one week with nothing to show for it. 

“No please don’t.” 

The silence that followed wasn’t the good type. He probably had just made himself look even more pathetic. But if there was one thing Sokka didn’t know how to do, it was how to shut up. And if he gave up now, it would be even worse than following through. 

“I’m sorry, I’m not a warrior, I’m just some guy from the south pole. I wasn’t able to protect anyone and I came here to learn but, I guess, I just… Look I’m sorry okay?” 

Sokka got on his knees and swallowed the last of his dwindling pride.

“I would be honored if you would teach me. If I’m going to be traveling with the Avatar, I need to improve.” 

“Well, we don’t train boys, or outsiders.” Suki responded, as Sokka’s hopes were utterly dashed. “But I suppose I can make an exception. Assuming you follow our traditions.” 

Sokka nodded solemnly, whatever they were, he would follow them. 

“Girls, get a dress!” 

Sokka already was regretting everything.

***

Sokka was off trying to make himself look tough and Aang had ditched her to make friends with everyone in the village. So just like back home, Katara was left to do all the actual work, alone. Not that she cared, they were morons, and she didn’t need them messing everything up. 

They needed provisions, a good map, a new blanket and a dozen other small things. The Kyoshi Islanders had generously offered to provide them with anything they wanted. But Katara had insisted on paying for everything with the money Gran-Gran had provided. While free stuff was nice, taking from people she hardly knew just didn’t sit right. Everyone had it hard because of the war one way or another and she didn’t need to go and make it any harder. 

After kindly rejecting the village elder’s offer Katara had set off the market. To be entirely frank, she hadn’t seen many markets before. Merchants rarely visited the South Pole. Her entire experience with buying had been arguing over the prices of furs and the odd trinket from up north when she traveled with Gran-Gran to other villages.

This was an entirely different beast altogether. Katara was astounded by the sheer variety and scale of the market. There were fruits she’d never seen before, and more metal in the pots and pans in one stall than in her whole village. There were bright and multi colored clothes, and even someone selling scrolls! All this stuff like was all but nonexistent down at the poles, and this tropical island had it all. Maybe, Katara thought, the war hadn’t touched Kyoshi island after all. How could one place be so rich? 

But her feeling of excitement was to be short lived. For starters, despite it’s exotic appearance and charm, everything was far more expensive than Katara thought it should be. The fish stall she stopped sold fillets at half a silver each. The catches of the day sold for six times that. Frankly Katara thought that one fish wasn’t worth three silver, but when she told the fishmonger as much he plainly refused to haggle. Katara left that stall empty handed, reasoning that she could always fish for herself and so could Sokka. 

But without any spare fibers lying around she couldn’t say the same about the clothing stalls. They needed scrap cloth, and thread, both of which were being sold at near extortion prices. And that wasn’t getting started on what Katara thought about the selection of clothing available. While bright and fashionable from afar, they were third hand at their newest and nothing was worth the going rate. Blending in earth kingdom clothes was plainly impossible if they wanted to afford food. 

The process continued as she traveled further down the market square, in a dozen stalls and shopfronts Katara found herself appalled by the prices and the quality of the goods. What deals she managed to eke out were far from market value. But over time as she acclimated to what her task required. Katara’s eyes narrowed and her heart hardened to the pleas of merchants. Like many before her she swore to get herself a deal, or die trying. 

At the end of her journey, she found herself with everything she needed except for some fruit. She figured a diet consisting entirely of fistcakes and fish would get tiring quickly. So if she got some under ripe fruit, she figured the whole group could have a treat in a couple of days. But in the way of her plan, stood the only fruit seller in the market. A stern woman, who seemed to be intent on providing only the mushiest fruit possible.

“Do you have anything else? Something a bit under ripe by any chance?” Katara asked.

The woman eyed Katara warily, and tersely replied. “No.” 

In the silence that followed Katara rifled through the cherry-plums and apple-melons. Granted, with enough search some were fine enough to buy, and quickly filled the top of one of Katara’s baskets. But most were mostly half rotten, bruised and the apple-melons swished rather suspiciously. Contrary to what she expected the further down the pile she went the more rotten they got. 

She was halfway through the pile, about to call it a day, when her fingers sank all the way into a cherry-plum. In disgust Katara pulled her hand away as rotten fruit sloughed off her hand. 

“You ruined my fruit. You pay double!” The woman harshly responded, a rather smug expression creeping across her face. 

It was almost as if she was waiting for this very moment, hiding her rotten fruit so she could get someone to pay for it. Katara’s eyes narrowed, this wasn’t an honest business, it was a glorified racket. 

“It was rotten.” Katara settled herself into a defensive stance, arms crossed across her chest. “I’m not paying a single copper.” 

The woman eyed her, and then scanned the markets behind her, perhaps looking for some authority figure to back her. Seeing nothing, she leaned forwards to eye level with Katara, jabbing a finger towards a sign on the corner of her stall.

“Can you read girl? Sign says, ‘You break, you buy’.” She hissed.

Katara opened her mouth to retort. She was about to say something about how planting a sign somewhere didn’t automatically make it a rule, when the street was filled with noise and movement. Approximately two dozen young girls were tearing down the market square, giggling after Aang. He seemed to be half leading them somewhere and half fleeing. 

Katara wasn’t exactly sure how that made her feel. A part of her knew he needed the break. He’d just learned his entire people had been wiped off the face of the earth. That couldn’t be easy for a kid his age. He ought to be having fun, not living in the real world. 

But as little as she’d like to admit it, Katara was jealous, and more than a little bit bitter. She should have had that too. Just because she tried her hardest to act like an adult, didn’t mean she wanted to be ditched with all the work.She hadn’t had the chance to go out there and just have fun in years. And here were all these kids having what she never would. It stung.

But this was not a new feeling. Katara had felt that a dozen times before watching the young kids still playing in the village. Each time she rolled up her sleeves and got back to work, and if she could get through the winter mom died she could handle just about anything. 

What she could not tolerate however was someone trying to scam her. So she returned to her task at hand, eyeing the fruit seller with predatory malice. A moment later the haggling began in earnest. 

***

Later that day, Aang only picked at his dinner. He wasn’t feeling that hungry. It was cooked for him by a really nice lady who seemed really happy to have the Avatar as a houseguest. He didn’t even think it was that bad, in fact it was a lot better than any vegetarian fare he had with Sokka and Katara. 

It was just like a recipe that he used to eat back home. Of course there were differences. It was supposed to be served with a base of tsampa not rice porridge, he didn’t recognize one of the vegetables, and it was all cooked in ginger the wrong way. But nonetheless it was still close enough to Monk Tsering’s cooking to remind him of home, and thinking about home was what he’d spent the whole day trying to avoid. 

Then Sokka spoke, pulling him from his thoughts, as he pushed his bowl over to Aang. “You feeling hungry? I’m not really into this meal.” 

“You’re just embarrassed you got beat up by a bunch of girls.” Katara smirked, Aang found himself laughing along. The whiplash between how proud he had been and his recounting the day’s training was a bit funny. 

Sokka responded a bit too quickly, flush with denial. “Training, Katara, I was training with girls.” 

“Training while getting your butt kicked maybe.” Katara chuckled, she had the most devastating of weapons on her side, the truth.

“Yes, because that’s how training works, it doesn’t count, it’s practice. Also, sneak attacks don’t count.” 

Sokka was quiet for a moment, his eyes pleading with Aang to assist in his losing battle. Aang was on Katara’s side with the whole argument, but then again he didn’t want to side with her too vocally. Sokka was obviously trying his hardest and he didn’t want to discourage him. 

“I think sneak attacks count...“ Sokka looked on, utterly betrayed by Aang’s words. “But you’re right, how can training count if it’s not real fighting?” 

Sokka put his hand on his chin. “Fair point Aang, I concede that yes an ambush counts as a defeat. But, how exactly does training count as losing?”

Katara responded by claiming that he had been pushed around all day by the same gender he said he couldn’t fight. Sokka then retorted, along the same lines as his previous statement, followed in turn by Katara practically repeating herself. It went on like this for a little while, Aang shifting loyalties between the two parties, as their neutral judge. 

While yes, the meal had reminded him of home, so did Sokka and Katara. Something about their bickering that seemed less and less like malice to him. They were just like the other twins and siblings back at the temple, attached angrily to each other by an unbreakable bond. Something about that comforted him, maybe he had at least a couple people left after all.

He wasn’t sure exactly what to make of it, but Aang realized they were forming a little family as they traveled together. Just like the nomads of his time. He was still feeling awful of course, and some of his hurt would never really heal. But buried down in there was a spark of something bright as well, and Aang felt just a little bit better than he had that morning.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Leave feedback this is a threat. But for real tho, glad you read to the end (or just scrolled all the way down). If anyone had a better idea for this chapter's name, please gib, I don't like the current one but have no idea what to make it.


	6. Kyoshi Adventures pt2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well this fic ain't dead, yeah I'm about as surprised as you must be. I just started up university a couple months ago, and it's been taking up a lot of my time. I still intend to finish this, and I'm still really enjoying myself. It's getting easier to make time to write it as I get used to my new life as a indebted college kid, so updates should be speeding up!
> 
> Hope you all enjoy!

An order had just came in saying that everyone was moving out again. It looked like the princess had gotten herself a new ship, and Captain Chaisai’s day of rest was over. He wasn’t particularly surprised, the princess had a way of getting what she wanted.

Didn’t mean he was particularly happy about it either. They were going to have to leave behind some of his best crew. Practically everyone above deck had gotten hurt somehow in that fiasco, and none of them were seaworthy yet. That left him to command an unfamiliar ship, with a half unfamiliar crew, all while the princess and some petty commander would be breathing down his neck.

All this to the end of hunting a living deity. Chaisai shuddered to think what that boy could have done if he was actually trying to kill any of them. He was afforded the luxury of reinforced glass between him and the Avatar. But that did little to abate the fear he felt watching the spectacle of half his crew being swept aside.

With so many of the crew in the infirmary, the kid had left the crew on triple shifts. Only the engine crew had gotten off relatively easy, but since the princess wouldn’t have a coalbender on staff, they still had to work overtime to maintain full steam 24/7.

The whole time, the princess hadn’t even bothered to leave her room. Instead she found it prudent to delegate more and more work from the comfort of her quarters. Even the Firelord had done menial work during the siege of Ba Sing Se, the least she could have done is at least shovel coal for an hour or something.

She was the reason they were all there, this was her passion project. Despite everything they did for her, she still lorded over them like peasants. He was a captain, with nearly twenty years of service in the navy. And while he was willing to endure harsh treatment when it produced results, even he was reaching the end of the rope.

None of this actually made Chaisai do anything other than what he was ordered to do of course. He was so close to seeing this nightmare through to the end. Soon, he hoped, it all would be an unpleasant memory, and he’d no longer be cursing the moment he volunteered to serve some child princess’ quest to find a fairy tale figure.

He groaned as he finally pulled himself out of bed, clinging onto the mantra that this all would be worth in a couple of days. He imagined himself as a commander in some backwater port where nothing happened, where he could retire in decade later. Then maybe his parents wouldn’t send him letters moaning about his career choice. He hated that they were right.

***

Meanwhile, on Kyoshi island, Sokka was training. And to his disappointment the Kyoshi Warriors’ secretive fighting style wasn’t exactly what he’d expected. Rather than learning about how best to crack some skulls, training seemed to just be a compilation of how he was doing everything wrong. His stance was horrendously off balance, his punches were little better than clumsy thrashing, and the less to say about his legwork the better.

But Sokka prided himself as a fast learner, and tried his best to adapt. Especially after the humiliation he had faced yesterday, he did his best to give no indication of weakness or any excuses for his many failures. He was here to learn, and giving up was far less manly than wearing a dress and face paint at this point. At least that was his rationale as Suki downed him again at.

“That was better, but remember, don’t overextend. You never know if your strike is going to finish off your opponent, so never assume it will.”

This was just like when he learned to read. He was able to remember all the characters quickly, faster than Katara had, it had just come naturally to him, as easy as blinking. But when he started writing everything was off, he never could figure out the proper stroke order and his lines didn’t come out straight no matter how hard he tried to straighten them. Something about it never clicked.

This was similar. Suki would show him exactly how to move, demonstrating a fluid change from stance to stance. Each step was perfectly clear, he could understand how the force transferred from one point to another. But for whatever reason, something about how he did it was always wrong. The errant turn of a heel or an improper movement of an arm would always throw himself off somehow. One time he’d expose himself to counter attack only to overcompensate the next time and throw himself off balance. As much as he tried he just couldn’t make it work.

“Yeah, I know.” Sokka nodded as he got back up from the mat, preempting his obvious mistake. “I wasn’t trying to, that time.”

Suki nodded, with an understanding smile. “Then maybe we should try drilling your punches a bit more. You are new to this after all.”

Yes, he may have been new to it, but he didn’t want to be left learning how to punch all day. They were leaving tomorrow, and he couldn’t afford to waste any of his time. “Yeah but, I already know how to do that.”

She sighed near inaudibly, and looked at Sokka. “That’s different than being able to do something, you know? You’re going to need a solid foundation if you want to do anything else.”

Sokka was glad that everyone else was taking a day off. If the rest of the warriors were there to watch this, he wasn’t sure what he’d do. Die of shame probably. He was supposed to be better than this. He should have been able to at least throw a half decent punch, he was the village’s only warrior for crying out loud. But she obviously knew more than him, and he knew exactly how it would turn out if he acted like he knew better.

“You're right.” Sokka conceded, with a downcast expression. “But how am I supposed to do anything if I just learn how to punch?”

Suki laughed. It didn’t seem to be meant to mock him like yesterday, but Sokka was still more than a bit wary about the entire Kyoshi Warrior situation.

“What?” He said defensively, sounding a little bit more hurt than he wanted to.

“You've Trained for a day and a half.”

Sokka prepared for the lecture on how much of a slow learner he was. How any Kyoshi warrior worth her salt would have already mastered such a simple technique by now. Sokka would have to swallow his pride again, if there was any left.

“It usually takes a lot longer than that to get the grips on the basics. And you never stop practicing either. How do you think anyone is supposed to be good at anything?”

“Practice?” Sokka said, answering the rather obvious leading question.

“Yes, practice.” Suki, finished looking at the noon sky, “But we can do that a bit later. Seems about time for lunch, doesn’t it?”

Sokka nodded eagerly and walked out of the dojo. Lunch was certainly a welcome break from his feelings of inadequacy. Even if it was rice and some sort of fish he didn’t quite recognize.

“Neat boxes.” Sokka gestured with his chopsticks at the bamboo box lunch had been stored in.

Suki winced for some reason before responding. “Oh those? Doesn’t everyone use them?”

“Nope, we just kinda store stuff in sacks, down south we don’t have much wood.”

“Then what do you burn? Doesn’t it get cold?” Suki asked.

“Nah.” Sokka said through a mouthful of rice. “Blubber burns if you know what to do with it.”

Suki seemed off-put by what he said, or something, because she reacted to something he was doing. Maybe she didn’t like the thought of killing seals and whales, girls did have a thing for cute animals.

“So I guess, you really do club seals then.” Suki elbowed Sokka playfully, before imitating a club swing. “Have you ever whacked one?”

Now Sokka was just confused, if she wasn’t off-put by the thought of him killing cute critters, what exactly was it that was making Suki all uncomfortable? As Sokka pondered he decided it was easier to use his fingers and ditched his chopsticks. Again the perplexing expression returned as he shoveled the rest of his rice into his mouth.

“Yeah, a couple.” Sokka laughed, as he began the story of the great Leopard Seal Caper.

***

From the moment Princess Azula took her first step aboard Zhao’s battleship, she had nothing but contempt for the officer. There was a visible coating of rust on the entire hull, his replacement crew were tardy and showed far less respect to him than she would have ever allowed. They only bowed to the polite degree, and offered curt responses, rarely showing anything beyond the smallest differences of their ranks.

No wonder the man hadn’t been promoted, Azula thought. He was slovenly and lacked even the slightest degree of care. If she had been assigned to this post, she would have snuffed out even the rumors of pirates and left their heads on spikes to deter any future incidents. Zhao however hadn’t received orders directly to do so, and so he simply hadn’t.

And speak of the devil, he was approaching her. She had been enjoying her solitude. Her thoughts gave her clarity of purpose that was little afforded by the chaos of commanding a vessel. Of course these moments of quiet contemplation also served to dignify her image to the crew. She wouldn’t have done it otherwise. Princess Azula wasn’t foolish enough to spend time doing things only because she enjoyed them, that was the difference between royalty and peasants after all.

“To think he was so close. Does this Avatar even care about his own safety?” Zhao boasted, placing himself next to Azula on the prow of the vessel.

“He’s just a child, I doubt he even registers the threat we represent.” She responded in a neutral tone.

Zhao seemed to find humor in that statement and laughed softly. Either he thought that the entire affair would be over quickly, or he found somebody her age saying that comical. Neither was a good reason to be laughing.

“True, true. These Kyoshi Islanders aren’t even benders. You would think he would at least have chosen a fortified location to cower in.”

“Is that why we have yet to occupy the island?” Azula remarked not yet willing to underestimate her opposition.

Zhao paused for a moment, before shaking his head dismissively. “It’s a small fishing island. It isn’t worth the cost of a garrison.”

Azula thought about reminding Zhao the value of his own posting before deciding against it. “Well then, how do you suppose we take this insignificant island, and find the Avatar?”

Zhao swept his hand vaguely in the direction of Kyoshi island. “We storm the port village and search for the Avatar. I doubt we’ll face any real resistance.”

Azula frowned. “I was under the impression these ‘Kyoshi Warriors’ were well trained, even if they aren't benders. Even if they turn out to be otherwise, a direct assault could give the Avatar plenty of time to escape. With the first sky bison seen in a century he has an unprecedented advantage of speed. With our current resources, we wouldn’t stand a chance of catching him.”

Azula’s tone did not betray an ounce of uncertainty. Her co-commander was attempting to solve a very delicate problem with the subtlety of a sledgehammer, and she was correcting him as his better.

Zhao nodded in polite agreement, a creeping annoyance seeming to pull at the corners of his face. “Yes that does run the risk of happening, but I’m afraid we’re afforded few other alternatives.”

Azula could tell he wanted to say something a bit harsher. She had questioned his authority aboard his own ship, and was likely contradicting the orders he had already given to his crew. But she was royalty and held authority, no matter her current situation.

“Nonsense commander.” Azula responded in as friendly a tone as she could manage, not wishing to be the initiator of any conflict, which would put her at a distinct advantage as a guest. “I believe we have all the tools we need to succeed.”

“How so?” Zhao responded, his eyes narrowing with keen interest, rather than any sort of continued annoyance.

“We have a small cavalry force, and the advantage of surprise. I say we land them on the far side of the island and encircle the village. I doubt they’ve considered an attack from the interior of the island, only passing naval raids on their port. As their houses burn we make our primary landing, and take the Avatar by force. From my experience with him, he’s the type to responded to hostages.”

Zhao nodded, seeming to take the plan without question. “An excellent plan, your majesty. I’ll inform the crew at once.”

A smile seemed to sincerely spread across his face. Azula found his sudden change of attitude troubling. She thought she had this angry, petty man figured out, but she seemed to have made some sort of miscalculation. She would have to pay more attention to this man until she had him figured out, there was clearly more to him than her first impression would suggest.

Meanwhile Zhao had likewise changed his estimation of the princess. Her sharp gaze and complete lack of humor had paired poorly with her attitude. Since the moment they first met she had seen him only as a resource for her own advancement, and while the sentiment had been a shared one, it did little to endear him to her.

But in her cold analysis and her instinctual insubordination of his every breath, he saw something. It was as if he was looking at her father in a different body. Younger and slightly less experienced, yes, but she truly was Ozai’s spitting image. Commanding others seemed to come naturally to her, as was the nature of those graced with the divine right to rule. She was a far cry from the old man in the capital, that much was for sure.

Her stature as a natural and ambitious leader made her self imposed exile something, far, far more important than he originally presumed. Afterall, she was Azulon’s granddaughter, and everyone remembers how muddled the succession had been. Maybe Ozai’s dream wasn’t dead.

***

Katara hadn’t really adjusted to the island climate. It was always sunny and there was life everywhere. Even by the beach she had been forced to shed her parka. That left a large portion of her body exposed to cold sea air, which for the first time in her life was a comfortable experience. She was used to a world where standing by the edge of the ocean without your winter clothes led to death, the shift was a bit jarring.

She had to admit, she understood the appeal. It was beautiful. The water was free of sea ice and sparkled in the sunlight. Behind her the sand was cut off by the rising tropical flora. She could envision herself falling asleep on this beach and not waking up until she wanted to, something that she really hadn’t done for years.

Nap fantasies aside, she hadn’t gone down to the beach to waste her time, like Aang and Sokka seemed intent . She had committed to making herself useful, and had decided to practice her bending.

None of this is to say she wasn’t enjoying herself. She always enjoyed bending, the feeling of push and pull, waxing and waning, in parallel to her breath. Something deep within her felt alive whenever the unnatural tension of bending coursed through her muscles. Each motion further centered her mind on the moment, as a singular focus overcame her. It was not dissimilar to how Aang described ‘meditating’.

To her pleasant surprise the portion of the tide directly in front of her now extended a good foot and a half farther than the rest. Katara could feel the dual forces that guided the tides throughout her body. It was like a pressure that ebbed from her breath out into her bloodstream, washing through her arms. Never dispersing, it retracted back to her core when she inhaled and washed out again with every exhalation.

While not a new sensation, Katara was feeling more focused than ever before. The feeling was stronger, and for the first time she found herself bending water exactly how she wanted, . From instinct she drew her left leg backwards and raised her arms as she exhaled.

As she lifted her arms, for a moment a stream of water snaked upwards. But something was wrong, as she attempted to force it, she felt resistance. For a moment longer she pushed against the water attempting to manipulate it, but as she found herself needing to inhale her grip faltered and the water splashed against the sand.

Katara’s feeling of calm faded as quickly as it came. She felt a dozen different things all at once. Frustration at her own ineptitude, an acute awareness of how untrained she was, and a vague sense that the Fire Nation had robbed her of a chance to learn.

She attempted to breathe in unison with the tide and to return to the feeling of calm for a second time. But it did not come, and the water seemed to hardly notice her.

“Hey Katara! Fancy seeing you here!” Aang said from behind her, seeming rather unsurprised to see her there. Karata hadn’t noticed him approaching, too focused on her bending.

“Hi, Aang.” Katara said, bearing a slight edge. She was still annoyed with him after yesterday, and very frustrated at her own inability.

“I saw you waterbending, and you looked like you did a great job!” Aang grinned obliviously, giving a thumbs up.

“Yeah, thanks, it really wasn’t anything special.” She brushed aside his complement, frowning.

“Well you’re better than me! I can’t even waterbend yet.” Aang laughed, in an attempt to make her feel better.

For Katara that comment had the opposite effect. He wasn't Water Tribe. He could airbend, and still had that piece of his culture intact. Katara meanwhile couldn’t say the same about her own.

“Can I watch?”

“Sorry, I just finished up. Maybe you can next time I practice.” Katara said, feeling rather discouraged.

“Awesome! I can’t wait!” Aang grinned, falling backwards into the sand without missing a beat.

“Yeah, sure, some other time.”

Now that she was done bending for the time being, Katara didn’t know what exactly to do. She wasn’t entirely accustomed to beaches, and hadn’t the slightest clue what to do. For a moment she just stood over Aang awkwardly, deciding to fix her gaze onto the waves.

“This is your first real beach day isn’t it?” Aang asked from the sand.

Katara didn’t know exactly what to say. This seemed like something she should have done by now. She felt heat rising to her cheeks in shame.

“That’s okay! It isn’t like there’s any good beaches at the south pole. No offense.”

Katara laughed, “None taken.”

“Anyway, if you want to know how to be a beach bum, you will have to follow my instructions.” Aang Dramatically paused, and Katara nodded, intent on not failing twice in a single day. “You just lay in the sand.”

“That’s it?”

Aang had yet to break his unwavering grin. “Yep! Just listen to the waves, make a sand castle if you want. That sort of stuff”

Katara gingerly sat down in the sand. It was soft and pleasant, but she had the feeling she wouldn’t get the sand out of her dress for days.

“That’s the spirit!”

Aang was right, the trifecta of the waves, cool breeze and warm sun was lovely. And as she laid back into the sand, she found herself slightly more at ease.

“You’re right. This is nice.” Katara said.

“I know, this is what I did every summer before.” Aang’s paused for a moment. “All this.”

Katara nodded grimly remembering life with her mother. “Yeah me too.”

Aang’s head whipped over in her direction in confusion. “I thought you said you’ve never been to a beach before?”

Katara couldn’t help but laugh as the trajectory of the conversation rapidly shifted. “I did other things. Like penguin sledding. Not beach- ing? What do you call it?”

Aang shrugged “Oh, there isn’t a word for it.”

“There isn’t a word for it?” Katara asked.

““People just say going to the beach, I guess.” Aang shrugged.

“Really? It seems like a big deal to me.”

“Yeah, I guess it would be.” Aang said, half thinking aloud. “It’s sort of like me going to a Fire Nation hot spring, or like eating meat. Never done either of those before.”

“Well, once the war’s over you could. If you wanted to of course.” Katara couldn’t really see herself ever going to the Fire Nation willingly, and didn’t buy that anyone else would want to.

“Yeah, I’m not exactly a meat eater. But I hear-”

Aang’s sentence hung in the air, his face grew pale and his jaw slackened. Katara slowly turned around, a pit growing in her stomach. Was one of those serpents there? If so, she would have to remain calm, predators were manageable if you kept calm.

“K-Katara.” Aang mumbled pointing out into the open sea.

As her eyes followed the invisible line, she didn’t see one of the giant serpents. If anything it seemed almost non threatening, so far in the distance. But a Fire Nation battleship was never not a threat.

Katara was no expert on Fire Nation battleships, but many of the older folk in her village were. And the one thing she had heard over and over again, was that the fire nation meant business if there wasn’t much smoke.

Gran-gran had told her and her brother about the early days of the raids on the south. Back then, the black snow gave hours of warning before a raid, defenses and ambushes could be set and more often than not, the defenses would hold. But as the Fire Nation learned to creep their boats forward, producing far less smoke, things got worse. Soon the only warning signs would be fishing boats not returning and a sudden influx of soot minutes before a raiding force descended upon the village.

The way the boat was acting seemed to mirror this pattern. It was away from any of the natural harbor and much of the boating routes. The small amount of coal smoke would likely go unnoticed by any of the Kyoshi warriors on watch, and only someone looking out from the sparsely habited beach could have spotted it.

“We need to go.” Aang said with a wavering voice and Katara nodded in agreement. The incident at the south pole was fresh in her mind, and she did not want a repeat.

***

Sokka was feeling a bit better. Sure he had only gotten the basics of punching down, but had gained a friend, and at the least the basic idea of what he should be doing. And that he had learned, was more important than anything else. Some adage of Kyoshi had said it better than he could, but Sokka had already forgotten it and was too scared to ask.

Suki was next to him, helping him remove the layers of war makeup. She had yet to take hers off, probably more used to it than he was.

“Hey Suki.” Sokka said between passes of a wet cloth across his face.

“Yeah?”

“I know I’ve said it already, but I’m sorry. For everything, I never should have doubted you, all that.”

“I know, you’re not that hard to read.” Suki responded.

“Yeah, yeah, I telegraph too much.” Sokka quipped, he could feel his ribs ache a little extra.

“No, I mean your face.” Suki laughed, “But thank you though. Not everyone can apologize so gracefully.”

“Yeah.” For whatever reason Suki’s smile made him feel really nervous. “If only I could fall as gracefully.”

Suki laughed. “Well you’ve got the falling part down. You’re halfway there.”

Sokka’s cheeks flushed slightly at that, but he had to admit she wasn’t wrong. “Well, I’m better than you at least. You barely fell at all.”

“Well, I suppose you’ll need to teach me one day. Even the masters must learn.” Suki conceded in a mock serious tone.

As the conversation continued Sokka noticed that the two of them were moving closer to each other. His chest tightened at that, but had made no movement to move away.

“Hey, Suki?” Sokka asked, far less confidently than he intended to.

Before he could say anything the roar of a sky bison drowned him out.

“Sokka we need to leave!” Katara yelled from Appa’s saddle. “The Fire Nation’s here!”

Whatever it was they were doing, Sokka had the distinct impression he was needed. He turned back to Suki, about to say what he assumed was goodbye, maybe for good.

“I guess this is it.” Sokka said, hesitantly. “Thanks for everything. I needed to learn from a real warrior.”

The next moment Sokka’s world descended into chaos. Suki grabbed the lapel of his shirt and closed in leaving him quite off balance. Rather than the usual grappling followed by an imminent takedown, she merely planted a quick kiss on Sokka’s lips. He was speechless, a healthy flush spread across his face.

“You’re not too bad yourself. Your manners could use some work though. ” Suki smiled. “Bye Sokka.”

“Yeah, bye.”

That was it, and Sokka had to leave. In the silence that followed he climbed onto Appa’s saddle and with a final wave they were off. The island shrank away and Suki quickly fell out of view. The atmosphere on Appa’s back was rather awkward. Neither Aang or his Sister really had much to say about what had just occurred and neither did Sokka.

The battleship changed course and followed them, rather than attacking the island. Even though they had just avoided another South Pole situation, the fact they had been followed was far from comforting.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Feedback as always please! 
> 
> If you feel like I've jumped the shark and I'm a dumb meanie head who hates babies, by all means tell me. I do prefer sycophantic praise tho, so please plenty of that too.


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